March 29, 2024

Little Free Library coming to Maytag Park

A new library is planned for Newton to be located in Maytag Park, a Little Free Library. After presenting to the Parks Board, Public Services Librarian Nicole Lindstrom got the OK to begin work to place the mini-sized library within the boundaries of Maytag Park.

“We tried to mimick the older structures that are already in Maytag Park,” Lindstrom said.

The 3-foot by 3-foot structure will sit on a post and is able to hold around 30 books, Lindstrom said. There will be a variety of books in the little library for children and adults to enjoy in the take one, leave one system. The Friends of the Newton Library will supply the books and the library will look after its smaller counterpart to make sure it stays filled with a variety appropriate reading material. There will also be a signed placed explaining the concept of the free library.

Lindstrom suggested Maytag Park because of its location as well as the high amount of traffic it receives. It was suggested to locate it near the playground to be visible and in a highly used area, along with a smaller chance of it getting vandalized.

Along with providing free reading material, the library is hoping to use it for cross publicity was the main library. In the books that are initially provided additional material about the public library will be given away to get people informed on what it has to offer.

Newton would be one of a few communities with a Little Free Library, Lindstrom said, and that feedback on social media has been positive for the idea.

“The nearest ones are three in Pella and one in Gilman and then Des Moines and Iowa City, so there is really not any around here,” Lindstrom said.

She only requested the help of the Parks Department to install the post for it to sit on. It was also suggested to put it in an area where it would not need to be mowed around.

If the first Free Little Library is successful and well received, Lindstrom hopes to be able to put more in at additional parks through out the city.

The Little Free Library movement started in Hudson, Wis. when Todd Bol built a model of a one room school house as a tribute to this mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He put it on a post in his front yard, filled it with books and found that his neighbors and friends loved it.

Rick Brooks, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, saw Bol’s do-it-yourself project and together saw an opportunities to achieve a wide variety of goals for the common good. The first official Little Free Library outside the Hudson area was posted by a bike path on the east side of Madison in the summer of 2010.

The popular idea expanded, a website was created to track the Little Free Libraries and as of August 2012 the movement had achieved its goal of over 2,500 libraries available. As of January 2015, he total number of registered Little Free Libraries in the world was conservatively estimated to be nearly 25,000, with thousands more being built.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com